Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke directed the company that operates the Ford Center to search for another professional hockey team as lease negotiations are at stalemate with the IceMen franchise.
Winnecke will keep negotiations afloat if the IceMen want, but said the city can't wait until a February league meeting to agree on a new lease and will explore new tenants and other options.
During a news conference Thursday, Winnecke also said the city is willing to accept a transfer of ownership from current IceMen owner Ron Geary.
A league-imposed deadline passed Wednesday, after several weeks of back-and-forth between the two parties attempting to secure a new contract for the team to lease the Ford Center.
In a prepared statement released Thursday night, Geary said the city's most recent proposal is worse than their current lease.
"Not only is the offer far short of what we hoped for, their best offer is actually worse than the current lease. We have been telling the city since February 2015 that we need a better lease. If that is the best the city can offer us there is simply no way we can accept it," Geary said in the statement.
Like Winnecke, Geary said the team will continue to try and find ways to make a new lease possible in Evansville.
Despite that, Geary said the costs passed onto the team are too high.
"As I have said before, I'm happy to have invested in the team and in the city, but after spending millions with no return we need a lease that is fair and does not take advantage of us," he said in the statement.
The city in November offered IceMen owner Ron Geary a five-year proposal that drastically lowered rent costs from about $11,000 per game to, at most, $1,000 per game.
But the offer had a catch: It gave the city a full share of revenue from food and alcohol sales at games. City officials pitched the proposal as a way to keep their financial involvement with the IceMen at a "break even" level.
In a counterproposal sent this week, the IceMen requested the same language and deal as its current lease, but only with reduced rent, 1,000 comp tickets to encourage food and beverage sales and naming rights for the ice rink.
Winnecke said the IceMen's latest proposal would cost the city about $125,000 more than the current agreement. The city responded, but the details weren't released by the city nor the IceMen.
Wednesday night, Geary went on local television and told WTVW/WEHT's Brad Byrd that unless the city is willing to subsidize the IceMen, the hockey team would leave town.